Accrington Web - 2020/21 Prediction League; Game 19 v Blackpool FC (home)

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Black Pool FC

2020/21 Prediction League Game 19; v The Sandgrownians

I was reading an article recently about Old Big 'Ead (Brian Howard Clough OBE), and musing on his playing career at Middlesbrough and Sunderland (whose next three games are covid-postponed, meaning they might be rusty when we play them on 29th December) and more particularly, in these days when managers are lucky to get two-dozen games before they're fired, on his managerial career; Hartlepools Utd as it then was - who've signed Luke Armstrong on loan from SalfordMoneybags, you may have seen - plus Derby (6 years), Brighton, "44 Days in Leeds" (which is frankly enough for most people anyway), and Notts Forest (18 years, through thick and thin, two League titles, two European Cups, and the Rise and Fall of the Clough/Taylor partnership); how many managers get 18 years at the one club? Arsenal Winger ...... Alex Ferguson .... and Cloughie

Never at a loss for a Press headline or a caustic one-liner, either;

“Beckham? His wife can’t sing and his barber can’t cut hair.”
“We talk about it for twenty minutes and then we decide I was right.” – (on discussions with his players.)
If any one of my players isn’t interfering with play, they’re not getting paid.” (when the new offside rule was introduced).
“If the BBC ran a Crap Decision of the Month competition on Match of the Day, I’d walk it.”

He retired in 1993; Forest's final game of that 1992/93 season - the first year of the Premiership - was away at Ipswich; they lost 2–1 ..... Starter for Ten, then; (i) what happened to Forest after that game? and (ii) who scored the last Forest goal under Cloughie's reign?

And it's "Goodbye" to Slaven Bilic at the Baggies, and "Well fancy seeing you again" to the man who managed England for just the one game (although, to be fair, he did leave with a 100% win record) ........ Big Sam's back! And no-one can touch his one-game regime, even though there have been several of the other 13 incumbents who lasted fewer than 50; Steve McLaren (he of the cod-Dutch accent) and Kevin Keegan both lasted 18 matches, and El Tel and Glenn Hoddle both managed 28 ......... Walter Winterbottom, on the other hand, did rather better, surviving 139 games over 16 years (not bad for someone who'd never managed before), Alf Ramsay (who carried on until 1974) was Boss for 113, and Bobby Robson lasted 95 ..... and all three got the Sword on the Shoulder!

And in the category of, "Well, who'd a' thowt it", comes the news that a 13,500-year-old elk skeleton was apparently found (with man-made barbed bone points -probably from spears) on Blackpool Old Road in Carleton in 1970 (and is now displayed, apparently, in the Harris Museum); this was claimed to provide the first evidence of humans living on the Fylde as far back as the Palaeolithic era (my experience is that there are plenty of Paleolithic people still livingn in Blackpool). The Fylde was also home to a British tribe, the Setantii (the "dwellers in the water" - fish, crabs, plastic bags - you know) a sub-tribe of the Brigantes, who, from about 80 AD, were controlled by Romans from their fort at Dowbridge, Kirkham. Did you know that during the Roman occupation the area was covered by oak forests and bog land?

I seriously want to know (a) how the dead elk came to be "on the road", (b) how they know it was 13,500 years old and (c) whether they celebrated its birthday with a small libation ........

In medieval times Blackpool consisted of a few farmsteads on the coast; in 1801 the population was 473 with an average IQ of 12 (nothing changes there either!), rising with the popularity of seaside holidays (by carriage and later by train) to over 2,500 by 1851, 14,000 by 1881, 47,000 by 1901 and 147,000 by 1951 .... the town name came, it seems, from a historic drainage channel (possibly Spen Dyke) known in those days as "le pull",which ran over a peat bog and discharged discoloured water into the Irish Sea close to what is now Manchester Square; that in turn formed a black pool (on the other side of the sea, "Dublin" (Dubh Linn) derives its name from the Irish for "black pool"), so the name for the general area (which had once been "Pul") slowly developed into "Black Poole"; and the rest, as they say, is history .....

Going back a little further, by the middle of the 18th century, the practice of sea bathing to cure diseases was becoming fashionable among the wealthier classes, and visitors began making the arduous trek to Blackpool for that purpose. In 1781, two local Worthies built a private road to Blackpool, and a regular stagecoach service from Manchester, and one from Halifax, were established. A few amenities, including four hotels, an archery stall and bowling greens, were created, and the town grew slowly, developing into the horrible dump it is today

Football was already being played in Blackpool by 1877, when Victoria F.C. were founded as a church club with a ground in Caunce Street. The team disbanded a few years later but some of its members apparently merged with old boys from St John's School to form a new club called Blackpool St John's. The two factions remained disunited, however, and on 26 July 1887, at a meeting in the Stanley Arms public house, the members resolved to wind up St John's and form a new club to represent the whole town. It was named Blackpool Football Club. At the end of the 1888–89 season, Blackpool became founder members of the Lancashire League.

The team's home at that point was Raikes Hall (also known as the Royal Palace Gardens), which was part of a large entertainment complex that included a theatre and a boating lake; the club's average attendances were around the 2,000 mark, making the club's formative years a financial success. Five years on, the Blackpool board decided it was time to leave local football behind, so on 13 May 1896 the club became a limited company and applied - successfully - for entry to the Football League.

For the club's debut season, 1896–97, they joined the 16-team Second Division, and their first-ever Football League game took place on 5 September 1896, at Lincoln City, which they lost 3–1 in front of around 1,500 spectators. The League consisted of Notts County, Newton Heath, Grimsby Town, Small Heath, Newcastle United, Manchester City, Gainsborough Trinity, Blackpool, Leicester Fosse (didn't he choreograph loads of musicals?), Woolwich Arsenal, Darwen, Walsall, Loughborough, Burton Swifts and Burton Wanderers ........... The Pool finished 8th, with a home record of 11-3-1 and an away record of 2-2-11, giving them 31 points; Burton Swifts were re-elected, Burton Wanderers weren't ...........

Blackpool first began wearing tangerine for the 1923–24 season, after a recommendation from referee Albert Hargreaves, who officiated an international match between the Netherlands and Belgium and was impressed by the Dutchmen's colours. Before changing to tangerine permanently, the team had tried several different colours: blue-and-white striped shirts in the 1890s (becoming known as "the Merry Stripes"); a mixture of red or white shirts at the turn of the 20th century; and, during the First World War, black, yellow and red - which they adopted to include the colours of the flag of Belgium, a show of support for the large number of Belgian refugees that had arrived in the town. After the war, they wore various strips, but they bowed to public pressure in 1939 and settled on tangerine, originally with white shorts and navy blue socks, but later with socks that matched the shirts ...

They've been up and down the Leagues over the years, but they hold one unique record - they're the first club to gain promotion from every division of the Football League via the play-off system; they won the 2001 Third Division (tier 4) play-offs after a seventh-place finish, beating Hartlepool Utd 5-1 on aggregate before a 4-2 Wembley triumph over Leyton Orient; in 2007 they won the League One play-offs (tier 3), beating Oldham 5-2 over two legs and Yeovil 2-0 at Wembley: and to complete the set they won the 2010 Championship (tier 2) play-offs, seeing off Notts Forest 6-4 in the semis before doing Cardiff 3-2 in the MillionsOfPoundsGame - all five goals scored in the first half, and two of the Seasiders' three goals scored by people who at one time or other played for us ........... so; Second Starter for Ten; who were the two 'once-upon-a-time Stanley' scorers for Blackpool on the day?

They spent just the one season in the Premier League under the stewardship of Ian Holloway, and later suffered a double relegation into League Two by 2016 - proving again that what goes up ......

They finished last season in 13th place with a record reading P35 W11 D12 L12 GF44 GA43 for 45 points; we shared a half-Desmond at the Wham, although we led from 16 minutes by a Curtis Tilt OG, until Matty Virtue-Thick levelled things up on 90+2 with a "wonderful curling strike", but we got our own back at Bloomingfield Road on Boxing Day with a 1-0 win, Sean McFiveMinutes popping one in on 90+1 to steal the points ............. and getting a yellow card into the bargain!

Thirteen left in the summer - nine of them for nowt, and four - including Michael Nottingham - selling for £undisclosed ............ others to thumb a lift along the A583 included striker Armand Erwan Dsihounou Gnanduillet (now with Turkish club Altay, based in the city of İzmir, who play in the TFF First League - which, confusingly, is the second tier); skipper and MF Jay Spearing left after failing to agree terms and is now back an Transylvania - sorry, Tranmere; CB Ryan Edwards went to Dundee United (nicknamed - did you know this? - "The Terrors", managed by Mickey Mellons and originally known as Dundee Hibernian); and striker Nelson Delfouneso signed for Bolton

They signed 13 (net saving therefore nil), and I seriously don't think I know any of them; LW Keshi Anderson, CB Marvin Ekpiteta; CM Oliver Sarkic (oh, hang on, heard of him!); striker Jerry Yates from the Millers; LW CJ Hamilton from the Stags (he used to play hurling for Clonea GAA); Slovak GK Alex Fojtíček; Congolese LW Bez Lubala; Icelandic CB Daníel Leó Grétarsson; and Aussie Kenny Dougall, a Wobbly ... errrr ..... Wallaby DMF ........... see what I mean?

After nine games, they'd won 2 (Swindon 2-0 and the MKDonuts 1-0, both at home), drawn 1 and lost 6; since then it's six wins, one draw and one defeat, giving them a home record of 5-1-3 and an away record of 3-1-4 - so overall, P17 W8 D2 L7 GF19 GA20 for 26 points and 12th place, behind Crewe on GD, and ahead of Gillingham by 3 points ........... In the FA Cup they've travelled well - 3-0 at Eastbourne and 4-0 at Harrogate, giving them Fat Sam's Speakeasy (WBA) in Round 3; the EFL Cup foundered 5-4 on pens at Stoke after a goalless Desmond; and making a habit of a bad thing, they went out of the Troffy 5-4 on pens at Fleetwoof, again after a goalless Desmond .......... They won a comeback game on Tuesday against Hull, though, turning 0-2 into 3-2, CJ Hamilton popping in the winner on 90+3 ........ form side (so are we!) Leading scorers (all competitions) are Jerry Yates (6), CJ Hamilton and Gary Madine (5 each), and Sullay Kaikai and two others, with two apiece

The names just trip off the tongue; Harry Johnston, Stan Mortensen, Stanley Mathews, Ernie Taylor, Bill Perry, Jimmy Armfield, Ray Charnley, Tony Waiters, Alan Ball, Allan Brown, George Farm, Jackie Mudie, graced the turf at Bloomfield Road; Johnston and Armfield spent their whole careers there - 21 and 17 years respectively .......... and in the dugout, there have been 38 full-time managers - the longest-serving was Joe Smith, who occupied the role for 23 years; Michael Appleton, meanwhile, lasted 65 days ... The club has appointed a new manager, on average, just under every three years, and - as of August 2019 the club had had nine full-time managers in 10 years ("The Oyston Legacy" - or one of them!)

They finished Runners-Up in the First Division in 1955/56, level on points with Wolves (49), but 11 behind Man U; their lowest-ever place was 21st in Division Four in 1982/83, requiring re-election (which they got) .... Most Football League appearances was by Jimmy Armfield (569, between December 1954 and May 1971); leading goal scorer was Jimmy Hampson ( October 1927 and January 1938); most capped while playing for the Seasiders was Jimmy Armfield with 43; Stan Matthews only got 36 there (54 in all), and Stan Mortensen 25; Alan Ball was capped 14 times in Tangerine, but 72 overall ............ and they've all passed, and we remember the lot of them!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 19th December .............. nice try by KiTChener to sneak in a prediction under the radar, two-thirds way through the game at Gillingham on Tuesday when - as Chimer pointed out - we were already 2-0 up, but you'll get nowt past My Mate, I'll tell thee ................. And I've not mentioned the '53 Cup Final once!

And at the end of the 92/93 season - but not just because they lost 2-1 at Ipswich in the last game - Forest were relegated (the only time, I think, that OBE went down) - and their goal was scored - you could have guessed this - not by Cloughie's Old Grannie, but by his son Nigel ...... and the two former Stanley players who scored for Blackpool in their Championship Playoff win over Cardiff in 2010 were Brett Ormerod (who hit 32 goals in 54 games for the Reds), and Gary Taylor-Fletcher - and if I counted correctly, they each made 215 appearances for the TangoShirts!

Good luck to everyone! .......... Stay safe and keep well! ............ And thanks for playing!

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